The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

It is the middle grade equivalent of ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE. (If you haven’t read that one, get right on it.) Thanks to a lightning bolt, Lucy is smarter than your average 12 year-old (or 40-something year-old, for that matter), but her Nana insists she needs to experience real life in the form of middle school. While she might be able to hide her math prowess to fit it, it’s much more difficult to hide her OCD. Seeing how the world looks through Lucy’s eyes was wonderful and thought-provoking. Stacy McAnulty manages to shows such character growth without Lucy ever changing who she really is. Ultimately, it’s a story about friendship, forgiveness, and accepting people even when they turn out to be different than your first impression. I was in a puddle of tears at the end.

Bonus: This book makes learning a little something about math easy because you’re not learning math, but rather learning about Lucy who loves math and sees it in everything.

It says it’s for ages 8-12, but I couldn’t have loved it more.

So, buy it for your upper elementary or middle school student, but I suggest you preread before they do it. You know, just to make sure it’s a good read for them. 😉